Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
"Edward? What are we going to tell the Volturi about the twins," I asked worriedly.
Edward's face was unreadable as he pondered this latest question of mine. It was a few minutes before Edward sighed before turning to me to answer.
"I don't know Bella. The last thing we need right now is a visit from them."
I frowned uneasily, Edward was usually the one with all the answers and right now he didn't have any which scared me more than it should.
"We have to tell them Edward. Keeping secrets from the Volturi is worse," I said.
Edward buried his face in his hand and whispered, "We won't survive another visit from them."
Edward looked so forlorn that I had to wrap my arms around him. I knew what he meant and that frightened me. The last time the Aro and the Volturi visited they weren't looking for a crime to punish for but for a reason to turn apart this family.
That way he'd be able to get what he wanted. Aro would get what he desired so much. Alice. Edward. Me…Renesmee.
No! Aro would never, ever get what he wanted. No! I wouldn't allow it. I knew what he'd do to the rest of the family; he wouldn't care to not kill them. He had to anyway, to make it look like he was "saving us". All he wanted was to use us as a crown jewel in his collection. Aro didn't care about the others, he only wanted the gifted.
A horrible thought fluttered into my head that I could stop. The twins…they didn't have any gifts. At least not that we suspected. Aro wouldn't…No! No-one was that terrible, were they?
I already knew the answer in my head.
I pushed away all of those thoughts from my head. I gazed at my sleeping babies, they looked so innocent. They shouldn't have to go through this. They should be in a normal home with a loving family where their safety wasn't compromised every few hours.
The Volturi were evil. There was no doubt about it. They were though very powerful and there wasn't anything we could do about that. No-one has ever challenged them or if they did, they're not around to tell us anymore. No-one messed with the gave me an idea though.
"Edward, if the Volturi did come, maybe they'd…"
Edward's eye's narrowed. He already knew what I was talking about and I could tell he didn't like the idea.
"No Bella, the Volturi wouldn't help us with Esther. Don't forget who sent her to us in the first place!"
That stumped me, "Well, maybe it was only just Caius's idea?"
Edward raised his eyebrow, "Even if it was at first, Aro would have found out the moment he touched Caius's hand. And look, even if Aro was angry, he hasn't tried to do anything to help us, now has he?"
Edward was right. Just like he always was.
Edward smiled and kissed the top of my head, "I know you're only trying to help, Bella. You don't need to though, Esther's gone now."
Was she now? I don't know what to believe anymore. I truly wanted to believe that she was gone, gone for good, but there was something nagging at my subconscious and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.
Emmett came ambling into the room with a huge smile on his face. I know he had just finished his call with Rosalie but why was he grinning like this for? What's he up to? I turned to Edward to ask but the look on his face was information enough. Edward was frowning meaning whatever Emmett was grinning about he was blocking from Edward.
Oh well, we'll find out soon enough. Emmett's not that good at blocking his thoughts from Edward, he'll slip up eventually and Edward will find out.
Emmett came and sat down next to me and said, "What's up Bells? Why so glum?"
I half smiled; I'd been trying to not let my anxiety show, for Edward's sake and the children. But if Emmett could see it, I probably wasn't doing a very good job at it then.
"I'm just worried, Emmett," I said answering truthfully.
Emmett rolled his eyes at me, "You're such a pessimist. Esther's gone now, so chill!"
"Yes, but how do we know that? She could still come back anytime and remember Alice can't see, so well all are still in danger!" I said shouting.
I was close to getting hysterical and I had to keep reminding myself that there were sleeping babies just a few meters away and if I keep shouting I'll end up waking them. And I didn't want to wake them.
"Bella, Bella my love, relax," Edward said coming over and pulling me on his lap.
He let my bury my head in his chest and let me dry sob. He patiently rubbed my back until I calmed down. I could see worry in his eyes as he watched me. Even Emmett was concerned about me. My sobs finally lessened and eventually stopped and I suddenly felt very self-conscious about crying front of them.
"Bell, are you okay?" Emmett asked softly, very uncharacteristically of him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said pulling away from Edward and walking to the corner. I pulled my fingers through my hair trying to make it look almost presentable and also to distract myself. I could hear Edward and Emmett chatting quietly by themselves.
"Bella? We're going to call the Denali's just to hear what they say about Esther, okay?" Edward said pulling my attention back.
I looked at him blankly for a few seconds not realizing what he just said.
Edward ran his fingers through his hair trying to act not nervous, "It's just to confirm about Esther."
It seemed like a very good idea. Maybe this would make me feel better. I think I just needed to hear the confirmation directly and I'd stop worrying.
Edward pulled out his cellphone and dialed the number in a flash, so quickly that even I missed it. Edward put the phone on speaker so we could all hear. The phone rang for a few rings before it was answered. The waiting was agonizing even if it was only a few seconds.
After a couple of rings, Kate answered the phone, "Hello?"
Edward too, looked a little relived when she answered the phone. "Hello Kate, it's Edward."
"Edward? Oh my god, are you okay? Carlisle told us what happened," Kate said frantically, realizing it was us.
"Yes Kate, we're fine now that Esther's gone," Edward said.
Kate gasped, "She's gone? Oh that's wonderful! Thank god that horrible woman gone."
Wait what? Kate didn't know that Esther was gone? How is that possible? Wouldn't Kate have been the first person Tanya told? I shared a look with Edward; he shared the same sentiments with me.
"Kate? You didn't know? Tanya didn't tell you?" Edward asked quickly.
"Edward what are you talking about? Of course I didn't know. And Tanya doesn't know Esther's gone yet," Kate said.
I gave Emmett a sharp look; he said Tanya said that Esther's gone. So how does Tanya suddenly not know now? Emmett's eyes widened in alarm as he realized what Kate had said.
"What do you mean? Tanya was the one who said Esther was gone. Tanya phoned and said her friends in Russia saw her there," Emmett said speaking up suddenly.
"Emmett is that you? Tanya phoned? Tanya phoned and said that Esther was gone? Are you sure, it couldn't have been her and anyway, Tanya doesn't have friends in Russia," Kate said.
My breathing accelerated. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong here.
"Yes! I'm very sure it was Tanya who phoned!" Emmett said loudly.
Edward took over the talking now, "Are you sure Tanya doesn't have any friends in Russia?"
"Yes, I'm very sure. What's going on Edward?" Kate asked worried. She already could sense something was radically wrong here.
Edward put a hand on my shoulder to steady me and also to stop me pacing. I knew it! I knew something was wrong! This was just too good to true!
"Kate? Where's Tanya right now?"
"Tanya's out hunting with Carmen and Eleazar. Edward why would Tanya do this?" Kate said almost sobbing.
"I don't know. I, I don't know," Edward admitted finally.
"Kate, would you ask Tanya to phone us as soon as she got back," Edward said.
Edward put the phone off and we were all quiet for a few seconds before Emmett burst out, "What the hell?"
Edward pulled me into his arms and just held me there for a few seconds. I could tell he was trying to be strong, strong for all of us and this wasn't going according to our go home plan.
"Maybe, maybe Tanya just forgot to tell them or she meant to but got distracted," Edward said trying to justify Tanya's actions.
I wanted to believe him, I needed to believe him. That was my breaking point right now and I needed this.
At that moment a knock on the door distracted us all from the current situation.
Emmett's face suddenly changed from anxious to a grin and so did Edward's surprisingly enough. I hated being in the dark about these things that the other two obviously knew about.
I walked over to the door and yanked it open in frustration.
"ALICE!" I cried out. In front of me was Alice dressed impeccably as always with a huge smile on her face. I immediately threw my arms around her neck and hugged her as hard as I could. If she were human, I'd probably be throttling her by now but Alice responded with the same fervor as me.
I vaguely noticed the blonde gorgeous model of Rosalie walk through the door and wrap herself around Emmett kissing him very passionately. I averted my eyes, embarrassed at their lack of caring about public displays of affection. Emmett just grinned at my embarrassment; I swear if I had been human I would have been red in the face.
After Rosalie managed to detangle herself from Emmett, I greeted her with a hug. It was no secret that I got along better with Alice, and Rosalie and I have had our issues, but she is still family and I have missed her.
"Oh Alice, I've missed you," I said after a few minutes, just unable to help myself. Alice hugged me again and pulled Edward into our hug too. Edward was very close to Alice and she undoubtedly missed him very much too. This caused us all to make one big hug including Emmett and Rosalie, not wanting them to feel left out.
As soon as we found our bearing, the phone call out of our minds for now, Alice grabbed my hand and said, "Bella! Tell me everything! The fact that I haven't been able to see you has killed me. I wanted to know everything."
I smiled at her enthusiasm, that was Alice and damn I missed that.
"I'll tell you everything Alice, but first I want you to meet someone, well actually two someones," I said grinning.
Alice frowned obviously confused but Rosalie wasn't. I hadn't seen her walk into the room. But by the time I looked she had already walked into the room and had undoubtedly seen the twins on the bed.
"What is this?" Rosalie said slowly gesturing to the bed. There was no-way she didn't already know and us breaking it to her gently wasn't going as we hoped it would.
The look on Rosalie's face was the last thing I saw before she ran out the room.
